PlayStation's Handheld “Portal” has been officially revealed. In this article, we will present you with the release window, the specs, the price and some more details for Sony's new attempt of a handheld PlayStation.
The recent success of the Steam Deck is testament to just how much demand there is for great portable consoles right now. But there is always one glaring issue with handhelds when compared to their counterparts: the technical limitations.
So, what can developers do to make handheld consoles capable of more? Given the size and portability of these devices, they can't simply beef up all the internal components. Sony however, who hasn't produced a handheld in almost ten years, might just have the answer: make the whole thing streaming-based.
PlayStation Portal Release Window
The official PlayStation blog post says that the new handheld will be released “later this year”. It can be expected, that this “later this year” will be weeks prior to Christmas, so a lot of people will put them on their wish lists, bringing the sales charts to a high.
PlayStation Portal Specifications
Here are the key information we have on the specs right now:
- 8-Inch LCD display
- resolution of 1080p (so no 4k)
- 60 frames per second
- 3.5 mm audio jack
How Does The PlayStation Portal Work
The PlayStation Portal is a streaming-handheld. It needs to be connected to your PlayStation 5 to work. Your PS5 will do the work of running the game you want to play, the Portal is there as a monitor and input-device. The PlayStation Portal does not work without a PS5 in near distance. It is Sony's version of Nintendo's Wii U (That sounds harsh).
Sony goes the streaming-handheld-way. While competitors try to be a rival product for the Switch and Steam Deck, the PlayStation Portal reopens a market, that was called dead with the sinking ship called Wii U. I'm not sure that this is the right strategy.
PlayStation Portal: Price
Sony have revealed the price tag for the PlayStation Portal, and it is okay-ish? $199,99 or €219,99 is an acceptable price for a PlayStation product. But when keeping in mind that you already need to pay $500 to grab a PS5, only have one controller and no games with it, the price becomes quite high. With $700 you can grab 3 1/2 Nintendo Switch Lites, more than one Steam Deck and almost one Asus ROG Ally, the highest rated PC-handheld out there right now.
If you have a PS5 and some games to play already, the PlayStation Portal could be something for you. Otherwise, I wouldn't really recommend it, bus as a die-hard PC-gamer I may be a bit biased there.
While we await some further Information from Sony regarding a release date and more features, make sure to remain with us here on EarlyGame.